The present invention relates generally to the disposal of medical refuse and more particularly to receptacles used to safely collect medical refuse prior to professional disposal.
Medical treatments are commonly administered in a residential setting. As a result, there has been found to be an increased accumulation of medical refuse (e.g., used syringes, used lancets, etc.) in residential communities. It has been found that most consumers dispose of medical refuse in the same manner in which other forms of waste are discarded. Specifically, medical refuse is typically disposed of either (i) by flushing the refuse down a toilet or (ii) by mixing the refuse with other forms of household trash. As can be appreciated, the disposal of medical waste using either of the methods noted above fails to adequately safeguard against both intentional and unintentional contact by the general public and consequently poses a significant safety risk to the residential community.
Accordingly, it is well-known in the art for medical waste receptacles to be located at well-known locations in a particular community (e.g., a police station, fire station, pharmacy). In use, consumers are requested to enclose the medical refuse (e.g., used needles) within a protective container (e.g., sharps container or coffee can) and discard the container into the medical waste receptacle. In time, the various refuse containers that collect within the centralized medical waste receptacle are handled and disposed of by professional medical disposal personnel. In this manner, exposure to the potentially harmful medical refuse by the general public is minimized, which is highly desirable.
Presently, medical waste receptacles have a mailbox-type design. Specifically, each receptacle includes an exterior housing that is constructed of a rigid and durable material, such as metal. A removable hazardous waste collection bin is removably disposed within the housing and is accessed through a narrow slot that is enclosed by a pivoting drop door. In use, residents of the community are required to open the drop door and deposit medical waste containers through the narrow slot in the housing. In turn, each container drops within the interior of the collection bin. Periodically, a waste collection professional removes the collection bin from the exterior housing via a locked access door and replaces the removed collection bin with a new, empty bin.
Medical waste receptacles of the type described above have been found to suffer from a couple notable shortcomings.
As a first shortcoming, medical waste receptacles of the type described above include no means for monitoring and/or controlling the level of refuse containers which collect within the bin. As a result, it has been found that receptacles of the type described above are commonly overfilled, thereby creating a potentially hazardous condition, which is highly undesirable.
As a second shortcoming, medical waste receptacles of the type described above include no means for restricting access to the collected refuse through drop door. As a result, it has been found that certain individuals attempt to retrieve medical refuse contained within the receptacle by sticking his/her hand through the narrow drop slot. As can be appreciated, the ability of these individuals to potentially access harmful refuse poses a significant safety risk to most communities, which is highly undesirable.